Looking For Puberty
by Caterchipillar
Summary: Uncle Irvine finally gets his just-for-laughs.


**Looking For Puberty**

Thirteen years had passed since the great battle with the sorceress from the future and the need for Gardens had been abolished. Truth be told, the heroes from that particular war were now settled and raised happy families of their own. Squall married Rinoa not so later, as many had expected, and had borne a daughter who carried his father's striking features. Tempest was named after her father of course, since it bears the same meaning as Squall. At a tender age of three, her curiosity couldn't be satisfied without a hard sample of evidence. Squall nor Rinoa couldn't fathom where she had inherited the trait from, but it delighted them to the least, if she wasn't badgering them about such silly questions. After a visit from the Almasy's, Tempest asked her dad that night he tucked her in bed.

"Daddy? I heawd Uncle Seifew said you hadn't hit pubewty befowe you met mommy. What's pubewty?" She asked with inquisitive yet sleepy eyes.

"Uhwell, you wouldn't actually understand it right now, even if I explain it to you, sweetheart. You'll know one day when you hit it. Goodnight sweetie." He kissed her goodnight then shook his head in disbelief. _Seifer can't keep his mouth shut. _Even now when he's thirty, he still finds it difficult explaining delicate matters to his daughter without feeling uncomfortable. Like when the time she asked them where babies came from, right in the middle of breakfast with Zell visiting. He dimmed the lights and headed for the bedroom he shared with his wife.

A week later

The gang always gather on Sundays, along with their children. And this time, the gathering was happening at the Leonharts.

"Uncle Iwvy!!!" Tempest raced to hug her favorite Uncle, running with arms wide open. The former cowboy, who now thinks his attire was outdated, caught the little girl and swung her to rest in his arms. 

"How's my lovely niece?" He tipped her chin with a thumb and received a smile.

"I'm otay. Uncle Iwvy? Whewe can I find pubewty?" She scrunched her nose and waited intently for his reply.

"Why do you want to find 'puberty'?" He asked, amused with the little girl's interest.

"Daddy said I have to hit it, so I'll know what it is."

Irvine threw his head back in laughter. "Oh, well, even if I tell you where you can find it, how are you going to know if that's puberty if you don't know what it is?"

"I don't know. But daddy says I have to hit it." She struggled free of Irvine's arms and slid down to run and pick up a hefty twig near a tree. "I think this is otay."

"What're you going to do with that, sweetie?" He said, mildly curious himself.

"I'm going to hit pubewty with this." She beamed him a smile, resembling her mother's. He couldn't control his amusement and let his shoulders shake with laughter.

"You're really serious about this, aren't you kid?" Just then, a thought hit him. An idea quite amusing but harmless nonetheless. Harmless to Tempest, but amusing to him, and he just couldn't resist the temptation.

"Do you know whewe it is?" She asked him once again.

"Well, I can't exactly tell you where 'it' is, but." He was going to enjoy this, he thought. He motioned for the girl to lean closer and whispered to her. The girl grimaced at this newfound knowledge.

"Weally? Uncle Iwvy, awe you shoo?"

"Yes, I'm sure. But don't tell anyone okay?"

"Otay."

He held out his hand and took hers as they walked towards the house. As soon as they entered, they were met by Squall and Rinoa, sitting on the sofa, while Selphie held her newborn and Quistis keeping a close watch of her son.

"Hey Quisty, how's your kid doing?" Irvine greeted, releasing Tempest, unaware that she started her search for 'puberty'. 

"Just like his father, always hungry." She eyed her five year old son, Marcus, who was stuffing pie into his mouth with his grubby little hands. "I feel like I have two children."

"Ha! You tell me." Selphie said, holding her first born close to her chest then threw a teasing look at Irvine. "Men are the bigger babies."

Squall couldn't condone his amusement, but realized Quistis' other 'baby' hasn't arrived yet. "Speaking of babies, where's Seifer?" 

"He just went to pick up Zell. They'll be here soon." Quistis replied, then she noticed Tempest walking around with a twig. "Tempest, honey, be careful, you might hurt someone with that." The girl just went on as if she didn't hear her. Then Irvine chuckled silently and Squall noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing. You'll thank me later." Just then, Seifer and Zell walked and greeted everybody. Tempest turned around to meet her Uncles.

Seifer noticed his niece and opened his arms to greet her. "There's my lovely niece, come here and give Uncle 'Seifew' a kiss." 

She came charging up to him as if she was excited, but the next thing he knew, WHACK!!, a branch met his face. "Ow!! What the hell?" Then she turned to her laughing Uncle Zell who said, "You don't know how much I like you right now kid." Just when he thought the situation couldn't be funnier WHACK!! his face was also met by the same stick. "Ooww!! What the-?" 

Rinoa ran to her daughter and picked her up, taking the stick away from her. "Tempest, apologize right now then off you go to your room."

"But mommy, I still don't know what pubewty is."

**Author's Note: **My humor's all sucked dry. This is what I've got for now.


End file.
